WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1857
408
sailor and all the qualities of a gentleman, indorsed by the Secre- tary of the Navy as having performed all his duties as a seaman at sea, and never called in question on shore. He was mercilessly stricken down by the retiring board; and the honorable chairman of the committee had no sympathy for him, no kind mantle of charity or even of justice, to extend to him. He now asks us not to inquire in regard to men who, by their actions, have acknowl- edged their unworthiness, lest we, by so doing, expose them! How stands Glasson ?-a man who, in all the departments of life, as a sailor, a gentleman, a soldier, who has done service more than half his life, from the time he entered the Navy until he was stricken down, a father, a friend, and husband-in all these rela- tions he stood unimpeached ; and yet he had no claim to the kind- ness, or even the favor, of this immaculate board; and we are to extend sympathy to men who could not claim justice at the en- lightened hands of any tribunal! How does this comport with the report made against Captain Stribling, a member of that board? The inspecting officers re- ported that nothing on board his ship was right; that all was wrong; and when he incurred the highest censure, and when he was furnished with the proceedings as a member of that board, his excuse was sufficient. Glasson came forward with no excuse. He has demanded of his country a fair hearing and investigation; but that has been denied to him; and will you try to screen men who have acknowledged refuge behind resignation? Sir, I do not understand that measure of charity. I am not prepared to indorse it. I wish to know the facts. Important reports have come to the Department of which we are not in possession. I desire to see them. Officers, for the first time in the annals of our nation, have been ordered from the Pacific. A captain and commander have been displaced and sent home with a report of a superior officer, and we are not told for what they were sent here. Another officer was sent home, and for a while remained under reprehension; but he is again white- washed and restored to the public service. But we are not to ask for the cause of these things, because it is said no honorable gentleman will be implicated, whose name may incur imputation! The allusion is to Captain Tatnall. No imputation can attach to him. He is a gallant, chivalrous, noble gentleman. I have no suspicion to cast upon him; but I wish to vindicate him against imputation. He was ordered home, and the facts are not known. Captain Tatnall must have been considered culpable to some extent. He is not culpable; and I wish to vindicate him to the
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